Monday, July 12, 2010

Whales

Went on a whale watching boat ride with Janet yesterday. About $40 through bostonharborcruises.com and worth every penny. We drove to Alewife (the name of a fish, not the publican's missus!) to catch the train into Boston - station was closed due to flooding from the rain the day before. So, on to the shuttle bus..... I didn't think it had rained that much... but there's a sign I saw telling how the Boston subway was opened in the late 1890s. Don't think it's been updated much! Once you go down into the subway itself the first thing that hits you is the heat! I'd hate to be down there when it's busy, it'd be suffocating!Anyway.... Boston harbour is an interesting mix of the old and the new - the old red brick and the new glass and concrete. I know what I prefer and it isn't the latter. The harbour itself is littered with islands, tour boats and yachts. Very pretty.The boat trip goes for about 3 hours. It takes a while to get out to where the whales hang around, an area called Stellwagen Bank. Here the ocean is only about 100 feet deep and is used by the whales as a breeding ground. At least, I think that's what the tour guide said - bit hard to hear above the buffeting wind.Once a whale is sighted the boat slows right down to a stop and people get a good chance to watch the whales, take photographs, etc. The whales weren't singing today so weren't leaping upright out of the water. I did manage to fluke a couple of decent tail shots as they dove under water though. So cool. We stopped at four or five different spots to view the whales - a couple of Fin whales and some Humpbacks. They all have names and can be recognised, by those who know what they're doing, by their fins and markings. After what seemed like too short a time we headed back to Boston. Really, I could've stayed out there all day :) Back on shore in time for dinner. We met up with Michelle and ate at Legal Sea, right in the harbour area. Then Janet and I walked around Boston for a couple of hours before heading back to Lowell.Boston has so much historical interest - saw just a tiny fraction of what's on offer. Paul Revere's house, the Granary burying ground, Boston Common, the old State House (Boston's first public building, 1713), cobblestone streets, etc. Hopefully I'll get back into the city for another look around because there's so much still to see. I'm not sure what they put in the food at Legal Sea but Michelle went straight home because she felt ill and I was feeling none too flash by the time we got back to Janet's. Apart from that, it was a fantastic day :) I love the ocean and seeing the whales was truly awesome!Today I'm just lazing about doing not much.